The spot, which took 606 takes to get right, took five months of planning and experimentation. It shows parts including cogs, car batteries and walking windscreen wipers forming a chain reaction that eventually causes a Honda Accord to roll down a ramp.
The creative strategy continues Wieden & Kennedy's break from traditional car advertising, in which the car is the star, by only showing the Honda briefly at the end of the spot.
Simon Summerscales, a strategist at Naked Communications, which handled the media planning, said: "Honda's image lags behind the quality of its products. This ad shows the creativity of Honda, to make a case for the brand and its engineers."
The campaign is designed to position the Honda Accord in the luxury car marque sector against competitors such as the Audi A4 and Saab 9-3.
"Cog" is set to launch during ITV's coverage of the Brazilian Grand Prix on 6 April, and will fill the whole commercial break. Sixty- and 30-second cut-down versions will run subsequently.
The spot introduces the endline "Isn't it nice when things just work?" delivered by the American writer and radio personality Garrison Keillor alongside the rap track Rapper's Delight.
The television work will be supported by 1.2 million DVDs, conceived by Naked. The DVDs will be distributed through national newspapers including The Guardian and specialist titles.
The DVD includes the commercial, a short "making of the film", the music video of Rapper's Delight, and information about the car parts shown in the film.
The DVD campaign targets two of Honda's core customer groups, according to whether they are motivated by work and status, or by knowledge and innovation.
"Cog" was art directed and written by Ben Walker and Matt Gooden. It was directed by Antoine Bardou-Jacquet at Partizan. Media buying is through Starcom Motive.
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